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Counterstrike

Penulis: Phylicia Ines
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-11-05 08:32:37

“Run it again,” Liora said, voice clipped. “Every thread, every ledger, every name that smells like The Harrow.”

Bram sat across the operations table, flicking through the projection screens with fast, deliberate swipes. “Already ahead of you. Their contacts inside City Hall are rerouting freight permits through shell NGOs. Clean on paper. Dirty underneath.”

“How dirty?”

“‘Fundraiser-for-schools’ dirty. They’re washing through children’s hospitals.”

Liora’s jaw locked. “Of course they are.”

Varian’s voice came through the comm—gravelly, restrained. “Don’t take this personally, Liora.”

She pressed her earpiece harder, eyes narrowing. “They put bombs under school buses, Varian. I’ll take that personally.”

“You take everything personally,” he said, quiet, and she could hear the thin edge of a smile.

“Keep it up,” she said. “I’ll take that personally too.”

Bram exhaled loudly. “Can we please focus before you two start flirting through encrypted channels again?”

Liora shot him a look. “Foc
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  • Blood Ties And Silk Chains   Counterstrike

    “Run it again,” Liora said, voice clipped. “Every thread, every ledger, every name that smells like The Harrow.”Bram sat across the operations table, flicking through the projection screens with fast, deliberate swipes. “Already ahead of you. Their contacts inside City Hall are rerouting freight permits through shell NGOs. Clean on paper. Dirty underneath.”“How dirty?”“‘Fundraiser-for-schools’ dirty. They’re washing through children’s hospitals.”Liora’s jaw locked. “Of course they are.”Varian’s voice came through the comm—gravelly, restrained. “Don’t take this personally, Liora.”She pressed her earpiece harder, eyes narrowing. “They put bombs under school buses, Varian. I’ll take that personally.”“You take everything personally,” he said, quiet, and she could hear the thin edge of a smile.“Keep it up,” she said. “I’ll take that personally too.”Bram exhaled loudly. “Can we please focus before you two start flirting through encrypted channels again?”Liora shot him a look. “Foc

  • Blood Ties And Silk Chains   The Cost of the Shift

    The meeting with Leth was supposed to be controlled, quiet, sterile—neutral ground in a decommissioned customs hall. Neutral, Varian thought grimly, was a lie.Leth paced near the loading crates, jacket too crisp, eyes darting. “I told you, Varian, the Gray contracts weren’t mine. I just signed the renewals—”“You signed every one of them,” Varian said. “That’s ownership, whether you meant it or not.”Liora stood a few feet behind, silent, her hand resting near her holster but not drawing. She’d insisted on coming, though every instinct in him had wanted her to stay away. Trust was her word now. So he was trying.Bram leaned against a crate, watching the shadows. “We shouldn’t be here long. Feels wrong.”“Everything feels wrong lately,” Liora murmured.Varian ignored the tension, stepped closer to Leth. “You were the one who said the Arbiters were dead in the water. You were the one who swore you wanted redemption.”“I do,” Leth snapped. “But you’re not the judge, Varian. You never w

  • Blood Ties And Silk Chains   The Whisper in City Hall

    Rain streaked the windows again. It hadn’t stopped for days, as if the city itself refused to wash clean.Varian stood beside the projection screen, arms crossed, eyes narrowed on the security feed looping from the municipal archives.“Play it again,” he said.Ines hit a key. The footage rewound—two figures meeting in the dim corridor outside City Hall’s records wing. One carried a messenger satchel; the other, a lanyard badge glinting gold under the light.Liora leaned forward. “That’s internal clearance.”“Level Four,” Varian confirmed. “City operations. Whoever that is, they’re inside.”Bram grunted. “You think The Harrow bought a councilman?”Varian shook his head. “Too visible. He’d want someone who can move unnoticed. Someone who files reports, signs routine transfers, feeds intel through maintenance channels.”Ines froze the frame. “You’re talking about a clerk.”Varian’s jaw tightened. “I’m talking about a mole.”Liora crossed the room to the board. “We’ve seen mirrored leaks

  • Blood Ties And Silk Chains   Power Play

    “Guns are loud,” Liora said, eyes fixed on the glass board that stretched across the war room wall. “But paper—paper kills slower. Cleaner. Permanently.”Bram frowned, arms folded. “You want to fight The Harrow with court filings?”“Yes,” she said flatly. “I want his empire to collapse under its own weight.”Varian stood across from her, arms braced on the table. “Then show me how.”Liora tapped a marker against the map. “His front company—Roth & Vale Imports—handles nearly all his logistics. Legal on paper. Dirty in practice. Tax filings, offshore accounts, unpaid duties. We hit him with coordinated seizures and injunctions. Every shipment frozen. Every warehouse padlocked.”Ines raised a brow. “That’ll take a small army of lawyers.”“I already built one,” Liora said. “And they don’t need guns. Just signatures.”Varian’s mouth twitched into a small, dangerous smile. “You’re building your own version of warfare.”Liora met his gaze. “You taught me that control isn’t only about force.

  • Blood Ties And Silk Chains   The Decoy Line

    The morning broke clean and ordinary.That was the problem.Liora had learned that true danger wore the mask of calm. The city hummed in its usual dissonance—street vendors calling, sirens distant, the low grind of buses on wet asphalt.Wren’s school van idled outside the safehouse gate, cheerful decals hiding bulletproof panels. Miss Pei stood by the door, raincoat flaring in the breeze.Wren hugged Liora tight, backpack bumping her side. “You’ll come later?”Liora smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind the girl’s ear. “Always. Straight to the library after class, remember?”Wren nodded, solemn as a soldier. “Promise.”Varian’s voice crackled over comms from the upper room. “Convoy looks clean. Route green across all feeds.”“Copy,” Liora replied. “Dispatching in three.”She turned to Miss Pei. “No stops, no detours.”“Understood,” Miss Pei said, then smiled gently. “You don’t need to hover every second, you know.”“Yes, I do,” Liora said.The van rolled out.Ten minutes later, Vari

  • Blood Ties And Silk Chains   Retooling the Empire

    The rain hadn’t stopped for two days. It streaked the penthouse windows in long silver threads, like veins across a darkened body.Varian stood before the glass, watching the city churn. The skyline glowed with divided loyalties—half the lights burning for them, half against. Behind him, the table was crowded with his old lieutenants, Bram at the head, arms folded.“You’re serious about this?” Bram asked flatly. “Protection, not deterrence?”“Not just protection,” Varian said. “Infrastructure. Response teams. Civilians on payroll instead of contractors with silencers.”Ines arched a brow. “You’re dismantling your teeth.”Varian turned. “I’m sharpening them in a new direction.”Bram leaned forward. “You built this on fear, Varian. You take that away—what’s left?”“Order,” Varian replied simply. “Not the kind that cages people—the kind that stops them from being prey.”Liora entered quietly, hair pulled back, eyes alert. She paused behind Varian’s shoulder, reading the room before speak

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